Descriptive Summary
Creator(s)
Biographical Note / Administrative History
James Woodruff Allen and his wife, Mildred Montgomery Allen, missionaries to the American Presbyterian Congo Mission under the auspices of the Executive Committee of Foreign Missions and (after 1949) the Board of World Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S., served in the Belgian Congo from 1912 to 1957. James Allen was born on July 19, 1885 near Pleasant Hill, Missouri, the son of William Harrelson and Martha Dewar Allen. He graduated from Westminster College in 1908 and from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in 1911. He was licensed and ordained by the Presbytery of Lafayette in September 1911. Allen received the Doctor of Divinity degree from Westminster College in 1932.
On July 23, 1912, Allen married Mildred Montgomery and later that year they arrived on the Congo Mission field. In addition to his educational and evangelistic responsibilities and translation and editorial work, Allen served on the Bible Revision Committee of the APCM and, from 1952 to 1953, served as president of the Congo Protestant Council.
In 1957, the Allens left the mission field and returned to the United States. They retired from missionary service on December 31, 1958 and eventually relocated to Pleasant Hill, Missouri. Mildred Montgomery Allen died in May 1978 and James Woodruff Allen died on July 23, 1980.
Collection Overview
The James Woodruff Allen Papers, 1907-1978, include correspondence, diaries, manuscripts, sermons, photographs, and other materials that primarily document Allen's life and work as a Presbyterian Church in the U.S. minister and missionary to the American Presbyterian Congo Mission (APCM) from 1912 to 1957. The collection, to a far lesser extent, documents Allen's wife, Mildred Montgomery Allen.
The collection is arranged into five series: "Correspondence, 1909-1978;" "Diaries, 1912-1932, 1953-1954;" "Manuscripts, memorials, notes, and sermons, 1909-1968;" "Congo and mission materials, 1912-1965;" and "Pamphlets, printed matter, and clippings, 1907-1968, bulk 1950-1968."
The series, "Correspondence," contains family and personal correspondence. The bulk of the family correspondence consists of James Allen's letters (1937-1941) from the Congo Mission field to his mother Martha. This correspondence is arranged in loose chronological order in one folder. Three folders of primarily incoming personal correspondence (1911-1968) are arranged alphabetically by sender. There are two additional folders of personal correspondence (one incoming and one outgoing) arranged chronologically. The folder of incoming personal correspondence (1909-1929, 1936-1978 and undated) contains numerous letters to the Allens from native Congolese written in unidentified African languages of the Congo.
The series, "Diaries," documents brief periods of time between 1912 and 1932 and 1953 and 1954 when Allen was in the Belgian Congo and on furlough in the United States. The diaries remark on aspects of his life at the Congo Mission, local weather, and travel schedules. They also include some details about his evangelistic work, especially when prayer meetings were held and who attended. Some mention of schools is made including descriptions of new students and school events. This series also contains a notebook of Allen's visits, meetings, and itinerary between November 1931 and June 1932 during a stateside furlough.
The series, "Manuscripts, memorials, notes, and sermons," includes manuscripts that relate to mission and the Congo, memorials to missionaries of the Congo Mission, and sermons written by Allen and primarily delivered in the Belgian Congo, Missouri, and Texas between 1909 and 1968. The sermons are mostly typed, with handwritten notes and edits. Accompanying most of the sermons are records of when and where each sermon was given, often noted on the front of an envelope.
The series, "Congo and mission materials, 1912-1965" consists of assorted materials that primarily document mission in the Congo, the APCM, the Belgian Congo, and the Allens. Included are Congo photographs that date from 1912 to the 1950s; APCM records; Bible related materials in an unidentified African language(s) of the Congo; and the Allens' travel/identity documents and related material, honors/awards, and accounts.
The series, "Pamphlets, printed matter, and clippings, 1907-1968, bulk 1950-1968" consists primarily of materials that reference James Allen and that relate to mission in the Belgian Congo, the APCM, and the PCUS and world mission.
Organization and Arrangement
The collection is arranged as follows:
SERIES I: CORRESPONDENCE, 1909-1978
SERIES II: DIARIES, 1912-1932, 1953-1954
SERIES III: MANUSCRIPTS, MEMORIALS, NOTES, AND SERMONS, 1909-1968
SERIES IV: CONGO AND MISSION MATERIALS, 1912-1965
SERIES V: PAMPHLETS, PRINTED MATTER, AND CLIPPINGS, 1907-1968, bulk 1950-1968
Administrative Information
Received from Alta Graybeal in 1978.
The collection was originally processed and a finding aid was created by Betty Canon in 1981.
Further processing of this collection was made possible by funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered through the Council on Library and Information Resources' "Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives" Project. The collection was minimally processed and the finding aid was created in Archivists' Toolkit in February 2011 by PACSCL/CLIR "Hidden Collections" Project trainees. This guide was revised in February 2013 by Bill Bock, Collection Management Archivist.
Preferred Citation
James Woodruff Allen Papers, RG 469, Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Catalog Headings
Collection Inventory
| Box | Folder | Description | |
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| SERIES I: CORRESPONDENCE, 1909-1978 | |
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1 | 1 | Family correspondence, 1912-1948, 1961-1968 and undated | |
1 | 2 | Personal correspondence (A-G,) 1911-1968 | |
1 | 3 | Personal correspondence (H-O), circa 1921-1967 | |
1 | 4 | Personal correspondence (R-Z) 1911-1968 | |
1 | 5 | Personal correspondence (incoming), 1909-1929, 1936-1978 and undated | |
1 | 6 | Personal correspondence (outgoing), 1940-1948, 1958-1968 and undated | |
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| SERIES II: DIARIES, 1912-1932, 1953-1954 | |
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1 | 7 | 1912-1913 and undated | |
1 | 8 | 1919-1921 | |
1 | 9 | 1922, 1925, 1953-1954 | |
1 | 10 | Notebook of Allen's visits, meetings, and itinerary during a stateside furlough, 1931 November-1932 June | |
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| SERIES III: MANUSCRIPTS, MEMORIALS, NOTES, AND SERMONS, 1909-1968 | |
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1 | 11 | Manuscript, "Central School for Missionaries Children in the Congo," 1931 | |
1 | 12 | Manuscript, "The Demand for Religious Literature in the Congo," undated | |
1 | 13 | Manuscript, "Lost and Found: A Life," undated | |
1 | 14 | Manuscript, "Mbuya, Lover of Boys," undated | |
1 | 15 | Manuscript, "Oversight and Leadership of the Native Church," undated | |
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2 | 1 | Manuscript, "The Varied Avenues of Missionary Effort Which are Building a Native Church," circa 1946 | |
2 | 2 | Memorials to the Reverend Motte Martin and Mrs. C.L. Crane of the Congo Mission, 1945-1946 | |
2 | 3 | Memorials to Mrs. J.W. (Elizabeth Ayers) Chapman and Dr. T.T. (Thomas Thomasson) Stixrud of the Congo Mission, 1930, 1943 | |
2 | 4 | Notes of James Woodruff Allen, 1955 and undated | |
2 | 5 | Outlines - biblical and historical (Old and New Testaments, and Romans), undated | |
2 | 6 | Sermons, 1909-1965 | |
2 | 7 | Sermons, 1915-1968 and undated | |
2 | 8 | Sermons, 1963 and undated | |
2 | 9 | Sermons, correspondence, and other materials concerning deaths and funerals, 1927, 1950, 1961-1967 and undated | |
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| SERIES IV: CONGO AND MISSION MATERIALS, 1912-1965 | |
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2 | 10 | Bible related materials in an unidentified African language(s) of the Congo, undated | |
2 | 11 | Bible Revision Committee (American Presbyterian Congo Mission) material and possibly related material in an unidentified African language(s) of the Congo, 1929-1954 and undated | |
2 | 12 | Calendars, American Presbyterian Congo Mission, 1948, 1958 | |
2 | 13 | Constitutions and bylaws of the American Presbyterian Mission Congo, undated | |
2 | 14 | Materials relating to the Congo and mission, 1914-1941, 1951-1954 and undated | |
2 | 15 | Minutes, annual American Presbyterian Congo Mission meeting, 1915, 1920 | |
2 | 16 | Minutes, Evangelistic Committee, 1922 | |
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3 | 1 | Photographs, Congo, 1912-1941 and undated | |
3 | 2 | Photographs, Congo, circa 1913-1950s and undated | |
3 | 3 | Photographs, Congo, 1932, 1934, circa 1946 and undated | |
3 | 4 | "Report of Mission Study Tour" (includes Belgian Congo and American Presbyterian Congo Mission), 1952-1953 | |
3 | 5 | Service programs, 1925, 1939, 1955 | |
3 | 6 | Speech of Governor General L. Petillon before the General Council of the Belgian Congo, 1955 | |
3 | 7 | The Allens' travel/identity documents and related material, honors/awards, accounts, and other material, 1912-1915, 1931-1958, 1965 and undated | |
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| SERIES V: PAMPHLETS, PRINTED MATTER, AND CLIPPINGS, 1907-1968, bulk 1950-1968 | |
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3 | 8 | Church bulletins and programs, 1916, 1958-1967 | |
3 | 9 | Collected printed materials and clippings (envelope marked "Clippings" contains obituaries of Mrs. Mattie F. Allen, mother, and James Allen, grandfather), 1907, 1950-1968 and undated | |
3 | 10 | Information packet, Vista del Rio project, 1968 | |
3 | 11 | Invitations and announcements, 1952-1965 | |
3 | 12 | Manual, Board of World Missions, Presbyterian Church in the U.S., 1965 | |
3 | 13 | Pamphlet (text in French), American Presbyterian Congo Mission, 1891-1941, 1941 | |
3 | 14 | Pamphlet, The First Annual Native Conference of the Congo Inland Mission Held at Djoko Punda, 1920 | |
3 | 15 | Pamphlet, Out of the Wilderness A Light: A History of Central School for Missionaries' Children, 1953 | |
3 | 16 | Pamphlet, Simplified Grammar of the Baluba Language, 1914 |